Originally Posted by
flyingdutchdevil
Random thoughts about the final and the World Cup in general
1) The WC Final lived up to it's billing. It was a great game and a really exciting game. As a neutral observer (okay, I wanted Germany to win), I really enjoyed the two even sides with Germany's constant runs and Argentina's disciplined back 4 and counter attacks. Argentina had the better chances, Germany had the better game. Messi was given more space than he normally gets but couldn't get it past Neuer. Higuain crossed a thin line from becoming hero to villain. Muller had a few great chances. Schurrle and Gotze provided the beautiful finish. Lovely game. Just lovely.
2) Neuer proves he is on a class by himself. With respect to WC Heroes Howard, Ochoa, and Navas, and Amazing Keepers Buffon, Casillas, Ter Stegen, and de Gea, Neuer is a goalkeeping class all to himself. He doesn't make spectacular saves as much as Ochoa or Navas, but this is because his presence completely scares opponents. Higuain, Palacio, and even Messi all missed because of Neuer's presence, not his saving abilities. Neuer is 6'4" with a wingspan that would make shooting guards jealous. Neuer is also smart, calculated, and quick. He deserved the Golden Glove.
3) UEFA continues to rule the football world. The last three world cups have had the following last 3 finishers: 2006 - Italy, France, Germany; 2010 - Spain, the Netherlands, Germany; 2014 - Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands. That's 8 of the 9 last three top 3 finishers coming from Europe. On top of that, two of the top three finishers at the World Cup held on South American soil her European, including the World Cup Champion. South America has indeed had a mini revival with Chile and Colombia, and Argentina is looking amazing. However, no one has or can displace Europe right now. All the Youth Systems set up in Spain, Germany, and France is the last two decades are really paying off (thanks to the Netherlands). In 2018, with the World Cup on European soil in colder climates and violent fans, I don't see how Europe doesn't win again.
4) The World Cup, despite being the top spectator sport and facing one-game eliminations, is still very predictable. Here are the consensus four favorites heading into the tournament (in no order): Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina. Here are the four semi-finalists: Germany, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands. Spain's meltdown was a shocker. So was the Netherlands being in the semis. But the finals brought Germany and Argentina, two of the favorites, together. The World Cup is a predictable tournament. In the last ~6+ World Cups, no one is surprised by the Finalists. The semis often produce a shocker country (the Netherlands, Uruguay, Bulgaria, Sweden, South Korea, etc), but the finalists and the World Cup Champion are often predictable. Despite being a Beautiful Game that everyone can play, the team's with the most talent often win out.
5) Fantastic World Cup. Despite a few issues here and there (suspect reffing, Neymar's injury, a few diving issues, hot weather), this World Cup was amazing: goals, great players playing well, new players coming into the spotlight, overachievers, underachievers, passion, emotion, good managers, little infighting (African teams aside). In fact, this World Cup was sooooooo good that few people outside of Brazil talked about how the $11 billion cost will cripple Brazil for a very, very long time.
6) Teams over achieved and under achieved. And that's beautiful. My single favorite part of the World Cup is...watching my team win. My second favorite is watching which teams surprise and which teams falter.
Overachievers (in no particular order): USA, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Colombia
Underachievers (in no particular order): Spain, Uruguay, Italy, England, Brazil, Asian teams, African teams not named Nigeria or Algeria, Portugal, Brazil again (for good measure)
7) 2018 favorites already established. It's four years away, and some players will develop better than expected and others will develop worse. However, we can already see who the top 6-7 teams will be. In order:
-Germany: yes, many of their stars will be old and may not even be on the 23-man roster (Schwinny, Lahm, Klose), but most will be in their prime (Reus, Kroos, Khedira, Gotze, Neuer, Ozil, Schurrle, Hummels, OMG...). Good news for everyone else: teams rarely, if ever, win back-to-back WCs.
-Belgium: It really hurts to write that Belgium will be a favorite, but they will. Just like everyone thought, Belgium has this amazing collection of assets that didn't know how to play with each other. In four year's time, when most players will be in their prime, they will probably have figured it out. Gross...
-Colombia: Falcao will be 32, but Ha-mes will be in his prime. They have the pieces around them to look amazing.
-Spain: Old guard out, new guard in. Spain just keeps on producing talent after talent. However, I expect that Euro 2016 will feature a mixed collection of old and new players. When Spain loses, there will be cries to only play new players. And the new players will be good, but they will be unproven and not have gelled.
-Netherlands: Bad news - Robben, van Persie, and Sneijder will be 34. Good news - our midfield will be one of the tops with Strootman, van Ginkel, Clasie, and others, and our defense is super young and looked like a top 3 defense in the WC.
-Argentina: the best facet of Argentina this year, their defense, will be too old to play in the next WC. Messi will be 31 and just past his prime (his technique will get better, his pace slower). Higuain will be 30, Mascherano will be non-existent, but Aguero and Di Maria will be in their prime.
-Chile: Really good, young talent. Sanchez will be in his prime, and Vidal will be just past it. Don't think they have enough solid pieces to go all the way.
8) My World Cup XI:
GK - Manuel Neuer, Germany: obviously
D - Javier Mascherano, Argentina: the main reason Argentina made it to the finals
D - Ron Vlaar, the Netherlands: find me a better defensive center-back during this WC. He was simply amazing
D - Jerome Boateng, Germany: the most under-rated German player. He was good-to-great in the tournament and amazing in the final game.
D - Philip Lahm, Germany: the captain, the holding midfielder, the true puppet master. He didn't wow, but he didn't screw up either. Vintage Lahm.
M - Neymar, Brazil: with him, they still wouldn't have won. But at least they would have looked more competent.
M - James Rodriguez, Colombia: Golden Boot winner, scored in every game he played
M - Toni Kroos, Germany: poor final, but had good games for every game throughout
F - Arjen Robben, the Netherlands: my player of the tournament, because he was always a threat. Argentina did shut him down for 90% of the game, but during that other 10% he was fabulous
F - Lionel Messi, Argentina: the facilitator for the second place team. Always double, tripled, or quadrupled-teamed. Allowed other players to shine.
F - Christiano Ronaldo, Portugal: kidding! Karim Benzema, France: made France potent, wonderful striker.